Feng looked up as Max spoke, his eyes wide for a moment. "...normal?" He asked, putting a small amount of space between them to look him directly in the eye. "Max, to us, you're the abnormal one." He spoke calmly, though there was a small amount of anger in his eyes. Even that was dying as he tried to smile. "...we've been here longer than most creatures have. When papa was little, Saol was still just a budding town." he smiled slowly. "Thanks to the city's lifestyle, our lives are cut down by at least half. Only a select lucky few make it the expected lifespan of an Elemental, anymore. Even then we're cast out to live in the forest again when we get too old. At least, that's my view on it, don't take it to heart. It just seems like the older we get, the less we're tolerated." Feng paused, choosing his next words carefully.
Finally, he took a deep breath and began.
"... if the city wasn't here, I'd live at least double the years that you would. If you lived to be fifty, I would live to be one-hundred. In fact, my ancestors lived... Christ. They lived for hundreds of years. Of course, that was before humans got involved. They started hunting them, killing them off one by one. They had to change forms, cutting their lifespan a bit. Once the most recent evolution took place, our fates were set. It's all about survival, Max. And humans were the ones to end it. That's why quite a few Elementals that live in the forests have such low regards to humans. Because you- I mean, your kind, not you personally - pretty much killed us. But that's all in the past, most of us have forgotten about that, now. Rather, we've just let it go. No point in arguing what's already happened. I for one don't care. I'd have been toast, anyway," He laughed, looking up at the sky, flicking his gaze down to the child.
"...basically..." he sighed heavily, sounding almost desperate, "...if humans hadn't interfered, we'd all be living safely inside our forests, flitting around between the trees and living to see the world grow for centuries." He shook his head, chuckling. "Sorry. I suppose I just let that comment get to me. We aren't normal to you, that's true. But to be fair, you aren't normal to us." he let the statement hang before shaking it off.
"...phew! Intense," He laughed nervously, coughing. "...let's... not do that again for a while. Sorry I gave you a bit of a lecture there..." he blushed, biting his lip and looking down.
"To answer your question, though, no. Not all of us like to show off. Some of us try to keep it under wraps. Andy does, he only uses his power if he absolutely has to. Sadly, I don't mind showing off a little, but I wouldn't make a poor bird suffer." He huffed, watching the previously-harassed bird flutter down to rest in a tree. A Gnome walked by, his gaze locked onto it, and he smiled. Spotting Feng, he waved kindly, and Feng waved back, and the man was gone. "...see?" He laughed. "point proven. Kids are just kids, but they're still annoying little..." he stopped the thought there, realizing he was babbling.
